Only Change Is Permanent

Size is a relative thing. So is temperature. So, too, are age and time.

Do you realize this year's freshman class in college largely wasn't born when Y2K arrived?

I have season tickets to University of Louisville women's basketball. Literally -- don't laugh -- I wear shirts older than anyone on the team.

After I left the world of newspapers, I worked for six companies. None of them exist any more.

I was 50 when the last of those companies was bought out and I lost my job. I tutored and worked as a communications consultant (until that consulting firm was bought out and moved to Denver), but -- literally again -- I was, in effect, retired, like it or not. I had a couple job interviews, but nothing came from them.

That's about the time my drinking got out of hand. My life was changing in ways I hadn't planned. For the first time, I lost most of the control in my life.

I saw that the only thing that never changes is change.

Then I found security with God and freedom with sobriety. My world continues to change, but "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change." I now live in the moment, cherishing my past but not mourning for it.

I took a four-part class in mindfulness, "Paying attention here and now with kindness." Check into mindfulness at https://www.mindful.org/. There you will find out, "We all (can) have the innate ability to be present, composed, and to pause before we overreact to the challenges of our busy lives—and that’s the ground of mindfulness. With some guidance and training, mindfulness can develop into a way of living that brings greater focus and effectiveness as well as kindness and caring into everything we do."

The site is linked to an article by Elisha Goldstein that smacks me between the eyes: “It is what it is, while it is. Nothing lasts forever. Difficulties will pass and so will the wonders; tune in to the preciousness of life. Bring this awareness into the moments of your day, tuning in to what really matters.”